The Darkest Room
by Haru Otogi
Summary: The Vampires are acting strange at Cross Academy - What could be the explanation?
1. Chapter 1

In the furthest corner of the darkest room, there is a secret. A secret, hidden inside a darkened hallway with curtains of maroon velvet and portraits of screaming virgins; bleeding from their own eyeballs as creatures of unaccountable beauty step closer with goblets.

Even as you stand there, taking in your surroundings, echoed screams are the only noise you are likely to ever hear. Curiosity takes over you and you follow it, taking in the bloodied art that decorates each scarlet wall - maimed victims of a faceless breed, granite gargoyles flickering in the candlelight.

You reach a door at the top of the stairwell and cast your eyes over the shadows at the bottom. You have no contemplation as to what kind of hellish underbelly it leads to, or any kind of interest in finding out; reaching out a shaking hand to the brass handle in front of you, you grip hold of the chilling metal. The screams from within do not subside and you pause for a moment, taking your breath before lunging through the door.

It is a chilling interior that meets you - a bedroom in shades of cold ivory, bed in the centre. For a moment you stand and stare at the woman inside it, wrapped in silk blankets and howling in agony. The screams were hers all along.

It takes her a long while to notice your presence in the room and into your face, eyes a desirous shade of scarlet - a weak smile slipping onto her face. Taking a deep breath, you hear her whisper,

"SLEEPING ON THE JOB AGAIN, YUUKI?!"

It was the fourth time that week that Yuuki Cross had fallen asleep on patrol. It wasn't due to tediousness or lack of sleep - in fact - there was no likely explanation at all, the only thing in her routine that had changed was waking up in odd places having drifted off.  
Glaring up at whoever had called out, she gripped hold the tree branch behind her and dragged herself to her feet, feeling a slight dizzy sensation in her temples and hoping her partner never found out.

It would be a disaster if he found out.

"Heyy…you don't look so good, Yuuki…" came the voice again and placing a hand to her forehead, she squinted in its direction - sighing inwardly as she took in the golden features of one Hanabusa Aidou.

"Aidou-senpai…" she grunted. "You shouldn't be on the grounds at this hour…"

In her peripheral vision, she saw him tilt his head towards her - heard his shuffling footsteps on the grass towards her. Her heart thumping in her chest, Yuuki reached for any kind of weapon to use; the circumstances were not running in her favour.

Cold delicate hands with a texture of ivory rested on her shoulders. Remembering her dream, Yuuki quaked in their grasp - scraping her nails through the lawn, she reached for her weapon, finding nothing.

"I could say the same for you," whispered Aidou. "Asleep under the tree - who are you teasing? What is your intention, Yuuki Cross? Laying where any good natured vampire can see you…asleep instead of patrolling…"

Yuuki did not answer - what answers were there? One way or another, she had endangered herself…lying in such a precarious place, any member of the Night Class could have…

Suddenly, Aidou's hands around her neck seemed much tighter than before.

There was no mistake, she understood why the other students called him 'idol' instead of Aidou - the story was that his face was that of a cherub, carved at the footstool of the gods. Beholding him was like beholding something divine - right then, something fiendish. They say even Lucifer himself was handsome.

Smiling into her face with garnet eyes and polished fangs, he traced her neck with a pallid finger.

"May I partake from your neck?" he whispered, never waiting to hear the answer.

Leaning closely into her neck as Yuuki writhed in his grasp, her limbs motionless and numb, Aidou's fangs scraped against her skin - Yuuki only just becoming aware of the sharpness as warm drops of blood trickled down her front.

She never would find out if Aidou finished, for it all went black before it was over - the final object of her consciousness the sound of a clicking gun.


	2. Chapter 2

It was with a solemn expression that Kaien Cross leaned over his, one too many time boarded, desk. The man in front of him was equally solemn, not through any course of events except his own demeanour, loading and reloading a hand pistol in his grasp.

This room was also painted a scarlet shade, though no screams echoed in its halls. The only occupants of this room sat in silence, each inaudibly daring the other to say what they both were thinking.

Pale haired and po-faced, Zero Kiryu glared from the slow motion of the cuckoo clock to the markings on his Bloody Rose, shaped like a dozen splinters of wood.

Slamming his pistol onto the desktop, he rose to his feet, confirming the words on both of their minds.

"ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" He screamed, pointing at the headmaster. "If Yuuki had not been patrolling all week then she would not have been so exhausted!"

Apart from taking a sip of his cupped soup, the headmaster said and did nothing, which seemed to infuriate Zero even more. Perhaps it was because he was the one who had dragged Aidou from Yuuki's neck or because he knew of her die-hard willingness to protect the Academy. It was Zero, after all, who stood and took notes.

"WHAT KIND OF FATHER SENDS HIS OWN CHILD TO THE DOGS?!" He roared. " DID YOU EVEN SEE THE MARKS ON HER NECK?"

Pausing to catch his breath, he glared at his opponent, whose nonchalant demeanour remained unbroken. Sipping his soup once more, the headmaster smiled broadly at Zero.

"Zero-kunnnn, these harsh words are so unlike you," he said. "If I thought Yuuki could not handle the life of a guardian, I would not have given her the task… of course I know that falling asleep was not part of the deal…"  
He twisted a lock of hair around a finger thoughtfully and then slammed both hands onto his hips as if in conclusion.

"Perhaps I shall send in a doctor to investigate my Yukkie-chan!"

Crumpling up his face, Kiryu swiped his gun from the desk and turned to leave the room.

"Whatever, headmaster," he said, heading for the door.

"Pleaaaaaase, call me FAAAAAATHERRR."

For a moment Kiryu considered the man behind the desk, eyes glinting from behind large glasses in hope and hands pressed tightly together in front of his chest as if in prayer.  
Sighing, he crossed the threshold and closed the door, leaving the student waiting for an audience a chance to go in.

Of all the lives in all the world, Kiryu often wondered…why that one…


	3. Chapter 3

_'You're here, my love,'_

Those were the words the bedridden woman whispered, right before you killed her, watching in satisfied misery as the sheets swam with blood.

Taking her hand, you wept bitterly - everything you had lost bleeding to the surface - clotting before your eyes. You knew things would be different know, different in injustice. You had to save the future generations from what you had been succumbed to. Losing the very thing most precious to you - your love, your future. Your unborn.

Glancing at the pistol in your hand, you smash it through the window - many shards cutting through your skin. You do not care, for this is punishment. You deserved to lose out for breaking the peace.

You watch as the pistol hits the paving slabs many flights below, somehow feeling enlightened.  
Her eyes snapping open, Yuuki shivered as a cold breeze hit her skin.

Sitting up, she realised that she was in the girl's dormitory, but the other female students of Cross Academy were missing and, an even colder shiver rushing through her veins, sunlight shone through the curtains.

_How long was I asleep? _Yuuki wondered, jumping out of bed and rushing over to the open window nearby, flapping on its hinges in an icy breeze.

Climbing onto a stool and reaching out to grab the hinge, she dragged it towards, shrieking out in shock as a haematite pair of eyes met her own and sharply tore into her face. Lashing out and batting at the creature, closing her eyes in fear of stray talons and becoming aware in her heightened sense of consciousness of an aroma she wasn't used to. Having torn her skin in several places, the raven took flight and veered over the stables, aflame in choking smoke.

Staring out from the covers of his four poster, Takuma Ichijo watched as classmate Shiki glanced out of the dormitory window. It was highly unusual for any of the Night class to be out of bed during the day time, much less Shiki on one of his few days off.  
"Shiki-kun, what are you doing?" he questioned, pulling the covers over his eyes.

Turning towards the Ichijo shaped lump, Shiki raised an eyebrow.

"Did you know the school stable's on fire?"


	4. Chapter 5

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Zero strode across the grass, each stride wider than the last. The situation with Yuuki made him frustrated - more frustrated than he had been in a long time. He had always known that converting Cross Academy to a shelter for vampires had been a bad idea - but now it seemed not even attacks on Yuuki would change anyone's minds.  
Kicking a cowslip, his eyes fell on two figures draped in hoods, also scurrying across the grass. For some reason, even though the pair were hidden from him, their very presence activated old instincts, filling him with suspicion.

"Hey," he hollered, picking up speed. "Where do you think you're going?"

At the sound of his voice, the pair did not slow, instead quickened their pace in the direction of the stable, confirming Zero's preconceptions.

Quickening his own pace and unsheathing his Bloody Rose , Zero took aim for the grass beside their feet, exploding the turf by the left runner's foot. Jumping in shock, they leapt into the path of the other and both fell tumbling into the grass.

Stepping over to the pair, still aiming his pistol, Zero dragged back the hood of the closest to him - revealing the model features of Senri Shiki. Snarling, he loaded the Bloody Rose as both vampires climbed to their feet.

"Vampires," he hissed. "How dare you run free after everything you have done!"

It was Ichijo's turn to reveal his face and, albeit carefully so as to avoid the barrel of the gun, walked over to Zero.

"You are quite mistaken Zero-kun," he said. "We're not here to cause trouble."

Grabbing hold of Ichijo's shoulder, Shiki positioned his face so it was level with Zero's.  
"THE STABLE'S ON FIRE!!" He shouted, pointing in the direction of the rapidly increasing smoke, now in broad view.

Staring at the smoke for a moment, the dull sound of his heart thudding in his chest, he then turned back towards the Night Class Students, who were regarding him uncomfortably.

"If you're not here to cause trouble, then I shall assume that you're here to make yourselves useful," he commanded, scanning their frames and throwing off his jacket. "Go and fetch as many buckets of water from the pump as you can; I'm going to save the horses."

This phrase caused a silent unrest among Shiki and Ichijo, written only on their faces, but still they nodded and headed to the pump in the centre of the schoolyard - Shiki nudging Ichijo as they went.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he muttered, when they were out of earshot.

Ichijo did not reply; he was contemplating that same question himself.


	5. Chapter 4

New students were rare at Cross Academy, on the rare chance that one appeared they got a special kind of treatment. Headmaster Cross had recently received news of a student transferring from an academy in the Black Forest.

After having a cup of soup together and discussing their expectations of the school career, discussion moved to the layout of the school and how she could expect to settle in.

"Normally I would give you the benefit of my cute daughter's company around the school, but unfortunately she is ill at the moment," he said, taking a lengthy sip of soup and peering at her over the rim. The way she cheerily sipped her own soup reminded him of someone he thought he had forgotten.

"That's a shame, headmaster," she said. "I did so want to meet her."

Grinning and jumping to his feet, he slammed his cup onto the desk - the contents sloshing round and over the side.

"Then not to worry!" he said. "For my son shall help you settle in! Come, I shall take you to him!"


End file.
